Polishing apparatus



M. B. HAMMOND ET AL Aug 30, 1949.

POLISHING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 8, 1946 INVENTORS MILTON BHAMMOND ROSTISLAW S. KOMARNITSKY M. B. HAMMOND ET AL Aug. 3@, 1949.

POLI SHING APPARATUS 2 Sheefs-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 8, 1946 INVENTOR3 MILTON BHAMMQND ROSTISLAW S. KOMARNITSKY Patented Aug. 30, 1949 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE POLISHING APPARATUS Application November 8, 1946, Serial No. 708,754

10 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus and method for polishing articles. While the invention is applicable to polishing various articles, it is particularly suitable for polishing steel automobile bumper bars so as to provide a smooth surface thereon suitable for electroplating nickel or other metal.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of our invention,

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section;

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 11-11 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the rotatable drum;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the rotatable drum; and

Figure 5 is a top plan view of an automobile bumper bar such as may be polished in accordance with the present invention.

Prior to our invention, automobile bumper bars have always been polished by hand before electroplating them. This polishing operation has been carried out by guiding the bar by hand and pressing it against a polishing wheel. This has been a tedious, time-consuming and costly operation. These disadvantages are overcome according to the present invention by means of which a plurality of bumper bars may be polished simultaneously and entirely automatically with the exception of placing the bumper bars into erally by the reference numeral 2 and comprises a body portion 3 having curved ends 4. Referring now to Figures 1 through 4, the polishing apparatus comprises a vertically arranged cylindrical container 5 provided with a removable cover 6 and adapted to hold a suspension of abrasive in a liquid such as water. Inside of the container 5 and spaced therefrom is a vertical cylindrical drum 1 secured to a drive shaft 8 by arms 9. The drum is open at its top and bottom.

The drive shaft 8 extends upwardly out of the container and may be driven by any suitable means not shown. A plurality of bumper bars 2 are supported vertically in the annular space l0 between the container 5 and the drum 1 by arms I l which may be continuations of the arms 9. The

lower end of the drive shaft 8 is supported in a bearing 12 and the upper end of the shaft is connected to any suitable driving means not shown. An impeller 13 is secured to the drive shaft 8 and is located adjacent the bottom M of the container 5 and below the drum 1. The blades of the impeller 13 are so pitched that upon rotation of the shaft 8 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 2 and as indicated by the arrow 1-5 in that figure, they force the abrasive which tends to collect at the bottom of the container upwardly into the annular space l0 as indicated by the arrows designated Hi.

In order to aid upward movement of the abrasive in the space [0, the outside of the drum 1 is provided with helically arranged vanes I'I. When the drive shaft 8 is rotated in a clockwise direction, it rotates the impeller I3, the drum I and the bumper bars 2. The abrasive is picked up from the bottom of the container 5 by the impeller l3 and forced upwardly into the space H3. Upward movement of the abrasive in the space [0 in contact with the bumper bars 2 is aided by the vanes H on the outside of the rotating drum 1. When the abrasive reaches the upper end of the annular passage II), it overflows the upper end is of the drum and flows downwardly inside of the drum as indicated by the arrows l9. Thus while the vertically extending bumper bars are being rotated in a horizontal plane about the shaft 8 as an axis, they are contacted by abrasive suspended in water, the now of the abrasive and water being upwardly in the space If! in contact with the bumper bars and then downwardly within the drum 1.

Rotation of the impeller 13 which is provided for the purpose of picking up abrasive from the bottom of the container and. forcing it upwardly into the space II] has a tendency to force some abrasive upwardly into the interior of the drum. This tendency is overcome by providing a second impeller 20 secured to the drive shaft 8 and to the inside of the rotatable drum '1. The blades of the impeller 20 are so arranged that they force abrasive downwardly toward the bottom of the container, thereby overcoming any tendency of the impeller l3 to cause packing of abrasive at the lower end of the drum 1. It will be seen that the pitch of the blades of the impeller 20 is opposite to that of the blades of the impeller l3.

In order to further increase the turbulent flow of abrasive in the space l0, vertically extending baflles 2| are provided on the inside of the container 5. Efficient polishing action of the bumper bars is due, at least in part, to the fact that 3 as the bars are rotated they have close clearance with the bafiles 2| and vanes H. In other words the radius of the space In is occupied almost entirely by the baflles 2|, the bumper bars 2 and the vanes IT. The impeller l3 and the vanes ll impart an upward and rotational movement of the abrasive in the space I I]. The turbulency and therefore the efficiency of the polishing action is increased by the provision of the baffles 2 I, particularly since there is only a small space between i the bumper bars, the baliles and the vanes.

It will be seen from the above description that in carrying out our method of polishing bumper bars, the bars are supported in a suspension of an abrasive in a liquid. An outer confined path of flow for the abrasive is provided by the space H! between the container 5 and drum 1 An inner confined path of flow for the abrasive is provided within the drum. The bumper bar are moved through the space H) upon rotation of the drum 7 and drive shaft 8 and at the same time that the bars are moving in the space H], abrasive is forced upwardly through the space I El and into contact with the bumper bars by the impeller 13 and vanes 11, after whichthe abrasive flows downwardly in an inner path provided within the drum 1 and shown by the arrows l9. Thus the bumper bars are moved in a horizontal direction while supported in a confined path provided by the space H] and at the same time abrasi-vc is forced upwardly through that space in contact with the bumper bars and then downwardly in a path out of contact with the bumper bars. The combination of the movement of the bumper bars and themovement of the abrasive results in very efficient polishin action.

The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment which has been given merel for purposes of illustration but may be otherwise enrbodied or practiced within the .scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for polishing articles, comprising a container adapted to hold abrasive suspended in a liquid, a rotatable drum arranged vertically within and spaced from the wall of the container, said drum being open at its top and bottom, means for rotating the drum, means for supporting and moving the article through the space between the container and drum, and mean for I forcing the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article and then downwardl in the space Within the drum.

2. Apparatus for polishing articles, comprising a container adapted to hold abrasive suspended in a liquid, a rotatable drum arranged vertically within and spaced from the wall of the container, said drum being open at its top and bottom, means for rotating the drum, means for supporting and moving the article through the space between the container and drum, an impeller adjacent the bottom of the container, said impeller arranged to force the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article, and means located within the drum and arranged to force abrasive downwardly toward the bottom of the container.

,3. Apparatus for polishing articles, comprising a container adapted to hold abrasive suspended in a liquid, .a rotatable drum arranged vertically within and spaced from the wall of the container, said drum being open at its top and bottom, means for rotating the drum, mean for supporting and moving the article through the space between the container and drum, an impeller adjacent the bottom of the container, said impeller arranged to force the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article, and a second impeller, said second impeller being located in said drum and arranged to force abrasive downwardly toward the bottom of the container.

4. Apparatus for polishing articles, comprising a container adapted to hold abrasive suspended in .a liquid, a rotatable drum Within and spaced from the wall of the container means for rotating the drum, means for supporting and moving the article through the space between the container and drum, means adjacent the bottom of the container for forcing the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article and then downwardly in the space within the drum, and vanes on the outside of the drum arranged to aid in forcing the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article.

5. Apparatus for polishing articles, comprising a container adapted to hold abrasive suspended :a liquid, a rotatable drum within and spaced from the wall of the container, means for rotating the drum, means for supporting and moving the articles through the space between the container and drum, means adjacent the bottom of the container for forcing the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article and then downwardly in the space within the drum, vanes on the outside of the drum arranged to aid in forcing the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article, and baflles on the container extending into the space between the container and drum for increasing the turbulent flow of abrasive in said space.

6.. Apparatus .for polishing automobile bumper bars, comprising a container adapted to hold abrasive suspended in a liquid, a rotatable drum arranged vertically within and spaced from the container, a drive shaft for supporting and rotating the drum, said drum being open at its top and bottom, means for supporting a bumper bar in the space between the container and drum, said bumper bar supporting means being rotatable With the drum, and an impeller adjacent the bottom of the container arranged to force the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article and then downwardly in the space within the drum.

'7. Apparatus for polishing automobile bumper bars, comprising a container adapted to hold abrasive suspended in a liquid, a rotatable drum arranged vertically within and spaced from the container, a drive shaft for supporting and rotating the drum, said drum being open at its top and bottom, means for supporting a bumper bar vertically in the space between the container and drum, said bumper bar supporting means being rotatable with the drum, and an impeller adjacent the bottom of the container arranged to force the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article and then downwardly in the space within the drum.

8. Apparatus for polishing automobile bumper bars, comprising a container adapted to hold abrasive suspended in a liquid, a rotatable drum arranged vertically within and spaced from the container, a drive shaft for supporting and rotating the drum, said drum being open at its top and bottom, means for supporting a bumper bar vertically in the space between the container and drum, said bumper bar supporting means being rotatable with the drum, an impeller adjacent the bottom of the container arranged to force the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article and then downwardly in the space within the drum, and a second impeller, said second impeller being located in said drum and preventing the abrasive from entering the lower end of the drum.

9. Apparatus for polishing automobile bumper bars, comprising a container adapted to hold abrasive suspended in a liquid, a rotatable drum arranged vertically within and spaced from the container, a drive shaft for supporting and rotating the drum, said drum being open at its top and bottom, means for supporting a bumper bar vertically in the space between the container and drum, said bumper bar supporting means being rotatable with the drum, an impeller adjacent the bottom of the container arranged to force the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the article and then downwardly in the space within the drum, vanes on the outside of the drum arranged to aid in forcing the abrasive upwardly in the space containing the arti ale, and baiiles on the container extending into the space between the container and drum for increasing the turbulent flow of abrasive in said space.

10. Apparatus for polishing automobile bumper bars, comprising a vertical cylindrical container adapted to hold abrasive suspended in a liquid, said container having a height greater than the length of the bumper bar, a rotatable cylindrical vertical drum within and spaced from the container, said drum being open at its top and bottom, a drive shaft for supporting and rotating the drum, means for supporting a pluand drum for increasing the turbulent flow of abrasive in said space, the bumper bars in their rotation having close clearance with said vanes and baflies.

MILTON B. HAMMOND. ROSTISLAW S. KOMARNITSKY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 464,584 Patterson et al Dec. 8, 1891 1,178,827 Spellman pr. 11, 1916 1,310,071 Gurry July 15, 1919 1,740,005 Crowley Dec. 17, 1929 2,425,640 Pruitt et a1 Aug. 12, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 98,820 Germany Aug. 18, 1898 

